While Western nations beef up economic sanctions and Nato discusses what stance to take toward Russia, the BRICS are maintaining tacit support for Moscow despite the Ukraine crisis. This is not entirely…
Peace in our time? Poroshenko and Putin shake hands in Minsk.
EPA/Sergei Bondarenko
It has been reported that the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian insurgents have signed a ceasefire agreement at the meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine in Minsk. This had hardly looked assured in…
People just aren’t that bothered.
EPA/Olivier Hoslet
World leaders are congregating in Wales this week for the 2014 NATO summit, where some of the most pressing political issues of the day will be on the agenda. Despite the high stakes, a survey of the general…
NATO Baltic air policing mission highlights rising tensions north of Ukraine.
EPA
Anxiety over the crisis in eastern Ukraine has ratcheted in recent days amid claims of an effective Russian invasion, and warnings of NATO making a 4000-troop reaction force available to the region. As…
A company in need of a reconnection with customers.
Shamshahrin Shamsudin/EPA
Malaysia Airlines was hit with two extraordinary crises this year that have rocked the confidence of customers and left the company struggling to manage the damage. Lone passengers are posting pictures…
David Cameron and Anders Fogh Rasmussen have a plan.
Luke MacGregor/PA Wire/Press Association Images
NATO member states are meeting this week in Wales at what could prove a milestone summit. Since the 2012 Chicago meeting, the security landscape has changed dramatically and important questions about NATO’s…
Celtic Manor welcomes careful drivers and diplomatic debaters.
Joe Giddens/PA Wire/Press Association Images
World leaders are beginning to converge on Newport in Wales for two days to reflect on NATO’s aims and objectives, ahead of the organisation’s main summit on Thursday and Friday. While in Wales, they’ll…
Yes…but is it war? Inspecting weapons seized in east Ukraine.
EPA/Tatyana Zenkovich
Is the conflict in Ukraine a war? This question has been raised in recent reports about a Russian invasion in Ukraine on the Caspian Sea. The USA and other NATO powers call it an “incursion”; the Baltic…
Mariupol residents protest against the rebel advance.
PHOTOMIG/EPA
Not long ago, it seemed that pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine were fighting a losing war – but recent events have changed the status quo dramatically. Russia’s delivery of reinforcements to anti-Kiev insurgents…
The announcement by the Ukrainian government that a combined group of Ukrainian armed forces and Security Service personnel detained ten Russian paratroopers inside Donetsk in east Ukraine should perhaps…
The European Commission has announced emergency EU funding of €125m for fruit and vegetable growers hit by the ban imposed by Russia on imported Western food in retaliation for the West’s own sanctions…
The evidence is out there, waiting to be found.
Igor Kovalenko
More than a month has passed since Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed with the loss of all 298 lives on board. But despite the disturbances at the crash site near the small town of Grabovo, near Donetsk…
Devastation: the remains of Donetsk’s history museum.
EPA/Sergei Ilnitsky
The past few days have seen another round of the seemingly endless cycle of escalation and de-escalation that has characterised the crisis in Ukraine for several months. The Ukrainian government has claimed…
The United Nations Security Council’s primary responsibility is maintaining international peace and security – a task aided by the veto power.
Francois Proulx/Flickr
Recent events in Gaza and Ukraine and the ongoing gridlock in Syria have dominated newspapers and airwaves – and debate in the United Nations Security Council. Despite UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon…
No more Spanish strawberries? Excellent news for this lady.
Sparkle Glowplug
Increasingly the saga of East-West economic relations is developing independently of the actual conflict in Ukraine and the surrounding region, leading to various unexpected outcomes. Take Russia’s own…
Overdue for reform: UN Security Council.
EPA/Jason Szenes
The conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and Syria are symptomatic of deeper problems in the international system. If the Security Council were to fulfil its role under the UN Charter, tackling many of these tragic…
Australia’s trade relationship with Russia looked better in 2007.
Dean Lewins/AAP
Poke a Russian bear with a stick and he will retaliate. That’s the lesson facing Australian exporters today. When Australia announced it would join the United States and Europe in placing trade sanctions…
Pavel Gubarev: self-proclaimed ‘People’s Governor’ of Donetsk region.
EPA/Photomig
There are two competing and irreconcilable narratives about the crisis in eastern Ukraine that divide public opinion and media coverage in the region and the country – as much as they divide Russia and…
Possibly not one for Tumblr.
UK Ministry of Defence
Rikke Bjerg Jensen, Royal Holloway University of London; Alasdair Pinkerton, Royal Holloway University of London; David Denney, Royal Holloway University of London, and Peter Adey, Royal Holloway University of London
By now, millions of people around the world recognise the face of Alexander Sotkin. This young Russian soldier posted selfies on Instagram that appear to place him in Ukrainian territory over the past…
The St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev is a sign of the city’s former historical significance.
matt shalvatis
A city glistening with the light of holy icons, fragrant with incense, ringing with praise and holy, heavenly songs. These lines referring to the “mother of Russian cities” and the “joy of the world” may…